Weekend of events to mark hall centenary

Village hall trustee Tony Noel is looking forward to next month’s celebrations.

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A CORNERSTONE of village life is marking its centenary with a year-long schedule of events.

The celebrations of Horsell Village Hall will culminate in a weekend of events next month and according to trustee Tony Noel, the programme includes something for all ages and interests and underlines the venue’s ongoing popularity.

He said: “Almost every one of the events we have held since January has been sold out so obviously the hall fills a need because it’s not difficult to sell the tickets. I think it has always been very central to the village. There’s a lot of affection for the hall.”

The last seven years have been among the most important in the hall’s rich history, with the venue changing from a parish to a village hall in 2005.

Fresh impetus came at the turn of the millennium, when the Horsell Residents’ Association set up a project to raise money for refurbishment and improvements.

After grants from the county and borough councils to improve disabled access, the hall had re-applied for its entertainment licence in 2002, which it was granted after 20 years without one. This has finally allowed the hall to host events on its stage.

Mr Noel said: “Although the church did well to run the hall over 60 years, it was never their first priority. If the village wants a hall it has got to put the work in itself.

“We have done a lot of work since power was transferred to the eight trustees, with a new roof, flooring, disabled access and redecoration. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for it.”

When the hall opened on November 2 1907, it was months behind schedule and significantly over budget. Since then it has been used for a variety of purposes, including a school canteen and a drilling ground for National Reserve volunteers during the First World War.

Now the hall is used annually by more than 30,000 people, despite being originally designed for a community of just 2,000.

Mr Noel, who has been a trustee since 2001, is the author of a booklet documenting the hall’s first 100 years. He said: “Horsell has 12,000 residents so the hall is far too small and we need to build an extension.

“The trustees have been talking about this with Woking Borough Council for seven years. The extended hall will stretch back quite a long way, behind the existing building.

"We are still in the planning stage and the second phase will be a major fundraising effort, which will hopefully start later this year. We need to raise around £500,000.”

When fundraising is complete, work can start on an extended hall with a bigger meeting space, new kitchens, toilets and entrance.

November’s centenary weekend starts on Friday November 2 with a youth concert featuring bands from the YMCA’s Ypod centre at 7.30pm.

A celebration service at St Mary’s Church on Sunday November 4 at 11.15am will be followed by a social event in the village hall.

Mr Noel said: “When the hall opened people seemed to have a good time but now it’s slightly different. What we are trying to do is include something in the programme for everybody.”